DeMint PAC fills primary coffers

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has long had a flair for the unconventional in his political tactics — and he’s showing it with a huge investment in the Colorado Republican Senate primary.

Through his political action committee called the Senate Conservatives Fund, DeMint has spent $141,000 in so-called independent expenditures backing Republican Ken Buck in Colorado, where voters head to the polls Tuesday. He’s also bankrolled tens of thousands of dollars in radio ads on Buck’s behalf, a highly unusual tactic for leadership PACs on Capitol Hill.

Story Continued Below

“I never heard of it before,” said Ken Gross, a Washington-based campaign finance law expert.

By making such expenditures, DeMint has been forced to navigate much tighter federal restrictions on his interactions with conservative candidates he has endorsed across the country, including in Colorado.

Eight days after DeMint met with Buck and campaigned on his behalf, the Senate Conservatives Fund bought $85,000 of airtime on Colorado radio. The Federal Election Commission prohibits third parties and campaigns from coordinating independent expenditures, and Buck and DeMint said they have had no conversations about DeMint’s financial investment in the race, denying there was any discussion about the ad buy.

Still, legal experts said the South Carolina Republican may be walking a fine line between campaigning — which is perfectly legal — and creating an appearance of coordination, which would run afoul of the FEC. Unlike DeMint, other lawmakers and candidates often make smaller in-kind donations to candidates so they don’t have to worry about the same kind of coordination limits the senator now faces because of his larger independent expenditures. “I think it is fairly common for independent spenders to exercise an abundance of caution to prevent even a filing of a complaint,” said Paul Ryan, an FEC expert at the Campaign Legal Center, a watchdog group.

Gross said DeMint is navigating a “minefield” as he tries to make sure he is “maintaining independence” and drawing some “very strict lines” between the spending activity of his PAC and the discussions he’s carrying on with candidates he has endorsed.

DeMint said he’s doing just that, saying he’s doing everything lawfully and that he’s got “legal people all over this” to ensure his PAC operates according to the federal restrictions.

Most senators use their political action committees to donate the maximum $5,000 apiece in primary and general election contests, spreading around in-kind contributions to curry favor with politicians who can later aid their future political ambitions.

And that’s what makes DeMint’s heavy spending on independent expenditures in Colorado and other races unique. He’s spending much more money than his fellow senators.